CCTV shows killer moving in blood-stained bathroom where friend's body found

08 December 2023 , 23:26

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CCTV shows killer moving in blood-stained bathroom where friend's body found

A man has accepted that he cut open the chest of his friend with a knife before writing a note that he pinned to the corpse saying: "It was me or him".

The killing came about because James Preston, 21, following a ketamine-fuelled night out, has claimed he believed his alleged victim was trying to kill him and that there was a "dynamic struggle" with a knife ending in Mr Holland's death. A jury has seen CCTV footage of a killer in the bathroom where, hours later, his friend was found dead with deep stab wounds to his chest.

Next to his body was a note written in blue highlighter, saying: "It was me or him", and a bloodstained knife with a bent knife blade. Cops said that Mr Holland was found in a "pool of blood" at the home of Preston's parents in Huyton House Road, Fincham, by officers later on in the early hours of June 8 this year.

The family home of a man who stabbed his friend to death after a ketamine fuelled night out was "torched" after the killing (Liverpool Echo)

Liverpool Crown Court were told that Preston pleaded not guilty to Mr Holland's murder and an alternative count of manslaughter. The jury has heard he will claim he acted in self-defence, with the blade slicing into his lung, heart and liver. The jury of seven men and five women heard the incident followed a night out with a group of friends.

Mr Holland, Preston and another friend, Sean Ruud, left the Deysbrook Pub and arrived at Huyton House Road shortly after midnight, where they drank beer and inhaled balloons of Nitrous Oxide. Mr Ruud was recorded leaving the house at around 12.15am, telling the jury Preston had punched him and kicked him in the face without warning.

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The victim spoke to another friend, Darren Mulholland, on the phone at 12.47am, when he asked for a lift home. The jury was told that Mr Holland "just didn't sound right" during that call. The jury were shown CCTV footage from a camera facing the rear of Preston's family home, which they heard was empty at the time, as his parents were on holiday in Egypt.

Previously, Nigel Pimblett, manager of the Homicide Support Unit at Merseyside Police, gave evidence to assist in talking the jury through the timeline of events in the case. After the footage was played, Mr Ford asked: "What is it they are doing?" Mr Pimblett said: "Taking drugs." Mr Ford asked what kind of drugs, and Mr Pimblett replied: "From the toxicology reports on Mr Holland, I believe it was ketamine."

In the footage, there is movement shown behind frosted glass looking through the downstairs bathroom window, where Mr Holland was found dead by police officers later that day. The jury heard that at 1.05am, the light was switched on in the bathroom. At 1.41am, a figure could be seen moving around in the bathroom, although it was not possible to make out what was happening. At 1.46am, a hand can be seen pushing the window open slightly with heavy condensation visible on the glass.

The jury heard that the light was switched off at 2.18am and was turned back on again a couple of minutes later. Preston left the property in a taxi at around 5.30am, and caught a train from Liverpool Lime Street. He got off in Runcorn station, and boarded a service to Birmingham.

His phone was then traced to the Dover area by authorities, but he handed himself in to police in Ashford, Kent, on June 10 and was arrested. The jury heard he will claim he believed Mr Holland was trying to kill him and there was a "dynamic struggle" with a knife ending in Mr Holland's death.

Opening the prosecution case, Mark Ford, KC, said: "The Crown say that James Preston was the aggressor on June 8, he was not acting, we say, in self defence at all. When you come to consider this issue, you may whish to consider, for example, the number of blows struck by defendant, the force of those blows, the actions of the defendant both before and after the killing and his flight to the Kent coast with his passport, in the aftermath.

"And what of the note? We say the note he left was nothing more than an attempt by the defendant to falsely justify his murderous act and to avoid responsibility for what he had done. And that is why, ladies and gentlemen, we say on behalf of the Crown, this defendant is guilty of murder." The trial continues.

Jonathan Humphries